Thursday, October 13, 2011

Lawyers for Omar Khadr have started the process for him to return to Canada. In this Pentagon-approved sketch, Khadr listens to closing arguments Oct. 30, 2010, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Janet Hamlin/Canadian Press

As Omar Khadr begins the fight to come home to Canada we should look at his crimes in the light they are meant to:High treason (s46 Canadian Criminal Code)(1) Every one commits high treason who, in Canada, (a) kills or attempts to kill Her Majesty, or does her any bodily harm tending to death or destruction, maims or wounds her, or imprisons or restrains her; (b) levies war against Canada or does any act preparatory thereto; or

(c) assists an enemy at war with Canada, or any armed forces against whom Canadian Forces are engaged in hostilities, whether or not a state of war exists between Canada and the country whose forces they are.

Omar Khadr making IED's

Omar Khadr has started the process to come back to Canada.

Lawyers for Khadr, who is serving eight years in a U.S. prison for killing a U.S. soldier when he was 15, have filed the paperwork required to start the repatriation process.

Corrections officials have received the request for transfer and now have to determine if Khadr is eligible to return to Canada to finish out his sentence.

Once Canadian officials determine that, they send an official request to American officials. If U.S. officials agree, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has the final say. He has the option of refusing the transfer if he decides Khadr is a risk to public safety.

The process is expected to take about 18 months.

A spokesman for Toews said he doesn't comment on individual cases.

'Inclined to favourably consider'

The Canadian Embassy said in a memo dated Oct. 23, 2010, the Canadian government "is inclined to favourably consider" a request for a transfer to Canada for Khadr to serve the rest of his sentence after another year at Guantanamo.

Khadr is not allowed to fly into U.S. airspace, according to the plea deal, CBC's Laurie Graham reported last fall from Khadr's trial.

Once in Canada, he'll be subject to normal Canadian laws and will be able to apply for parole after serving one-third of his sentence.

Khadr will not be able to profit from his story.

"If he writes a book, any profit, any money made, will go back to the Canadian government," Graham said.

Sgt. 1st Class ChristopherSpeer at Bagram being unloaded by the 396th Medical

U.S. military prosecutors had called Khadr a radical jihadist, but U.S. Navy Capt. John Murphy softened his tone when he was asked whether Khadr will pose a threat when he's eventually set free in Canada.

Dennis Edney, Khadr's Canadian lawyer at the time of the trial, said that when he is released Khadr will not live with his Toronto family members, who have openly supported al-Qaeda.

"By returning him to his own country within a year, that presents the best prospects for his rehabilitation," he said.

"He's not a radical jihadist," he said. "He's a victim. He's a victim of

his family, his father, adults, and he's a victim of this system."

Khadr pleaded guilty to five charges brought by the U.S. military, including killing Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer in Afghanistan in July 2002. He has been in custody since then.

Two long-time lawyers for war criminal Omar Khadr, Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling

Omar Khadr fires longtime lawyers

Convicted war criminal Omar Khadr has fired his two longtime lawyers just months before his return to Canada.

CBC News has learned Toronto-based lawyers John Norris and Brydie Bethell have been hired to replace the two Edmonton-based attorneys, Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling, who represented Khadr for years.

"Dennis and Nate have been tremendous advocates for Omar," Bethell said. "We hope to be able to further the progress that they have made."

Khadr pleaded guilty and was convicted a year ago at a U.S. military trial in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for war crimes he committed as a 15-year-old in Afghanistan.

The Supreme Court of Canada declared earlier last year that the Canadian government had violated Khadr's rights by acting in complicity with the U.S. in his maltreatment at the American naval base in Guantanamo. Edney and Whitling were instrumental in that legal battle.

Edney would not comment Thursday except to say, "I wish him all the best and I have no further comment."

Khadr is slated to return to Canada in the fall to serve out the remaining seven years of his prison sentence.